The optimum design of auto-catalyst needs a good compromise between the pressure drop and flow distribution in the monolith. One of the effective methods to achieve this goal is to use the concept of radially variable cell density. However, there has been no study of evaluating the usefulness of this method on light-off catalyst. We have computationally investigated the effectiveness of variable cell density technique applied to the light-off catalyst using a three-dimensional integrated CFD model. in which transient chemical reacting calculations are involved. Computed results show that variable cell density technique can reduce the accumulated emissions of CO and HC during the early 100sec of FTP cycle by 86.78 and 80.87%, respectively, The effect of air-gap between the monoliths has been also examined. It is found that air-gap has a beneficial effect on reducing pressure drop and cold-start emissions.